Yep, I can find ways

So one of the challenges, for me, of staying on a fitness diet is not the diet itself (I prefer lean meats & lots of veggies & good grains anyway), it’s finding ways to stay on program yet still enjoy my developing fondness for French cuisine and wine. I’m not to have any cheese, creamy things, alcohol, etc, as I’m trying to lose bodyfat and retain as much muscle as possible. Obviously that rules out, for now, cooking with pounds of butter and oil and cream, and excessive cheese is out. But I love cheese, so I’m going to still indulge in small tastes of brie until I have reason to believe it’s hindering my progress, and a few shavings of parmesan reggiano shouldn’t hurt anything. My favorite leek & potato soup calls for quite a bit of butter, so I’ll have to experiment with how it tastes with, say, half a pat, lol.

I hadn’t tried any new recipes yet, since so far, I’ve been satisfied with the basic stuff I’d been making. But I finally got bored with it, and I wanted to start playing in the kitchen again…and had a wonderful success tonight.

I have to credit Muscle & Fitness Hers for the inspiration today. This month’s issue has an article on “one pot recipes,” and they included a version of Chicken Provencal using just a small amount of olive oil, spice, white wine, plum tomatoes, and Kalamata olives. I didn’t have all the ingredients on hand, so worked with what I had, and voila! One of the best chicken dishes I’ve ever made: Chicken cooked in a bit of white wine with shallots, garlic, and thyme. Simple, yes, and probably fairly common to seasoned cooks, but I’d never made it before. It came out divine, and this’ll become a new staple for me. :-)

I also made the sweet potatoes I had on hand into delicious mashed sweet potatoes with truffle oil & bourbon…mmm. Sweet potatoes are definitely fitness food, and a little drizzle of truffle oil is just the thing they need for additional flavor (you really don’t need much of that stuff…I swear my bottle will last me for years).

I’m happy to be cooking again…it’s been awhile.